Title
IRA LAWRENCE FAMILY
Creator
Ethel Lawrence
Coverage
TOWNSHIP 140N RANGE 95W
Text
IRA LAWRENCE FAMILY
Ira and Ida Lawrence came to Gladstone, N.D. in 1882. At that time Gladstone was the end of the railroad. They came with the Christian Colony Association of Ripon, Wis. Other members who came at the same time were G. S. Cryne, Charles Kono, A. B. Robinson, J. S. Letts, William B. Powers and Andrew Jopp.
Ira homesteaded about three miles northwest of Gladstone. The house built at that time is still standing and is being used by his son Luther Lawrence and family who still live on the farm.
Ira was a carpenter and farmer. His wife, Ida, helped out by teaching school, giving piano lessons and painting. They had five children. Jessie, the oldest girl, was about two years old when they came to N.D. She attended Valley City Normal school and taught for several years and then married George Sorber. They lived in Dickinson, where their two children, Lucile and Charles, graduated from high school and then moved to a farm at Centerville, Ind., where Lucile, her husband Elmer Harris, and their son Bruce and family still operate a dairy.
The oldest boy, Russell, was the first white child born in Stark Co., in 1883. He farmed for many years just a few miles from the home place. He married Lena Truax, a young girl who had come to the area from Steele, N.D. to teach in a country school. Lena continued her career for some time even after their two girls were born. The girls are Verna Maye, Mrs. Matthew and Elenore, Mrs. Leland Lunde, living in Escondido, Calif.
Nellie, the second girl, born in 1885, also attended Valley City Normal school, and taught school until in 1909 when she married a neighbor boy, Fenn Pelton, and moved to the Pelton homestead. They had one son, Eugene still living there.
Mae, the youngest girl, also taught school, and she married Herbert Morrell. They had two children, Perry, of Silverton, Oreg. And Irma of Olympia, Wash. Mae died, 1926. Herb is still living and resides in Puyallup, Wash.
Luther, the youngest of the five chilren, is the only one still living. He just celebrated his 87th birthday. He married Ethel Benson, a school teacher from Wisconsin, May 27, 1914.
Education was a very important part of the Lawrence family life. Ida taught her own and neighbor children before they had actually built a school. She was a small, frail woman. It would be hard for us to comprehend how she could accomplish what, as a pioneer woman, she had to do. Her father was a government surveyor and she had never lived in the country. What she missed most were the trees. Her children have planted trees on the homestead and they have grown profusely, “If only Grandma could see them now!”
Ida Lawrence's father Henry Meritan, came here from his home in Portage, Wis. And spent his last years with her. He died at age 91.
By Ethel Lawrence
Ira and Ida Lawrence came to Gladstone, N.D. in 1882. At that time Gladstone was the end of the railroad. They came with the Christian Colony Association of Ripon, Wis. Other members who came at the same time were G. S. Cryne, Charles Kono, A. B. Robinson, J. S. Letts, William B. Powers and Andrew Jopp.
Ira homesteaded about three miles northwest of Gladstone. The house built at that time is still standing and is being used by his son Luther Lawrence and family who still live on the farm.
Ira was a carpenter and farmer. His wife, Ida, helped out by teaching school, giving piano lessons and painting. They had five children. Jessie, the oldest girl, was about two years old when they came to N.D. She attended Valley City Normal school and taught for several years and then married George Sorber. They lived in Dickinson, where their two children, Lucile and Charles, graduated from high school and then moved to a farm at Centerville, Ind., where Lucile, her husband Elmer Harris, and their son Bruce and family still operate a dairy.
The oldest boy, Russell, was the first white child born in Stark Co., in 1883. He farmed for many years just a few miles from the home place. He married Lena Truax, a young girl who had come to the area from Steele, N.D. to teach in a country school. Lena continued her career for some time even after their two girls were born. The girls are Verna Maye, Mrs. Matthew and Elenore, Mrs. Leland Lunde, living in Escondido, Calif.
Nellie, the second girl, born in 1885, also attended Valley City Normal school, and taught school until in 1909 when she married a neighbor boy, Fenn Pelton, and moved to the Pelton homestead. They had one son, Eugene still living there.
Mae, the youngest girl, also taught school, and she married Herbert Morrell. They had two children, Perry, of Silverton, Oreg. And Irma of Olympia, Wash. Mae died, 1926. Herb is still living and resides in Puyallup, Wash.
Luther, the youngest of the five chilren, is the only one still living. He just celebrated his 87th birthday. He married Ethel Benson, a school teacher from Wisconsin, May 27, 1914.
Education was a very important part of the Lawrence family life. Ida taught her own and neighbor children before they had actually built a school. She was a small, frail woman. It would be hard for us to comprehend how she could accomplish what, as a pioneer woman, she had to do. Her father was a government surveyor and she had never lived in the country. What she missed most were the trees. Her children have planted trees on the homestead and they have grown profusely, “If only Grandma could see them now!”
Ida Lawrence's father Henry Meritan, came here from his home in Portage, Wis. And spent his last years with her. He died at age 91.
By Ethel Lawrence